Jan. 9: City
corporators, led by the Mayor, have proposed that the Hyderabad
Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) be merged
with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

Their contention is that the lack of coordination bet-ween
the two public utilities is causing inconvenience to citizens. They say
that because the services provided by HMWS&SB and GHMC are closely
related, bringing water supply and sewerage services under the control
of the GHMC will considerably improve service delivery to citizens.

Besides, water supply is not an alien subject to GHMC,
because the municipal corporation that was supplying water to
surrounding municipalities for years together until the responsibility
was shifted to the Water Board a year ago. However, urban development
experts, elected representatives including MPs and MLAs from the city,
and environmentalists, want a thorough discussion and debate on the
proposal. They also want the opinion of experts, policy makers and
stakeholders to be taken into consideration before a final decision is
made.

Besides, the merger proposal would throw up possible
demands for bringing under a single umbrella other crucial departments
like fire services, traffic, public transport, power supply, law and
order, schools and colleges, and medical services and the question is
whether an agency like the GHMC, which is struggling to fulfil its
present duties, will be able to take the additional load of providing
more services.

Urban development expert Mr D.V. Rao of the Centre for
Good Governance said water supply services are with municipalities
elsewhere in the state, but there are drawbacks to doing the same for
Hyderabad. “In Hyderabad, the Water Board was created as a separate
entity through an Act of Legislature. The advantage of being an
independent identity is getting huge funding from international agencies
to execute projects. If the Water Board is merged with the GHMC,
international loans and other funding will not be that easy to get as
GHMC would already be taking loans for execution of other civic
infrastructure projects.”

He said the government is not in a position to fund either
the Water Board or the GHMC with the kind of huge finances the two
public utilities require to provide basic civic infrastructure to
citizens in new colonies that have mushroomed in surrounding
municipalities, leave alone improving the existing but deteriorating
facilities in the core city. Mr Rao said though the 74th Constitutional
Amendment stipulates that even water supply is part of the duties to be
executed by an urban local body, the conditions in Greater Hyderabad
are different.

“May be the state government amends the Water Board Act
and makes some of the GHMC corporators and officials members on the
Water Board to improve coordination, and policy decisions are taken in
consultation with each other,” he added. National Disaster Management
Authority vice-chairperson, Mr M. Shashidhar Reddy, said that while lack
of coordination is seen among various departments, the most notable
mismatch is between the GHMC and the Water Board. “It is a good idea to
merge at a time when both agencies blame each other for sewer
connections being tapped to storm water network resulting in flooding of
roads and streets during the rainy season, and polluting the water
bodies too. However, we have to see how feasible the merger is. We
should learn from the experiences of other cities like the Mumbai
municipal corporation, which also maintains water supply and transport
(buses). The fire service is another important subject that should be
under the control of the urban local body,” he said.

BJP state president and Amberpet MLA, Mr Kishen Reddy,
says the proposal should be discussed by urban development experts and
citizens. “There is no doubt that there is no coordination between the
GHMC and Water Board. I am witness to the lack of coordination, a
glaring one being Water Board officials coming and cutting open the
roads less than a week after the GHMC had re-carpeted it with bitumen.
It is the failure of the GHMC that it does not inform the Water Board
about its road works, and likewise the Water Board never bothers to
inform the GHMC that it will be digging up so and so roads,” Mr Reddy
said.

Eminent environmentalist Mr K. Purushotham Reddy said it
is high time that Hyderabad is made into a state on the lines of Delhi.
“The population of Greater Hyderabad is nearing the one crore mark and
its geographical area is spread over 625 sq. km. If needed, the
boundaries can be extended further and the city made into a state. This
would allow the state administration to focus better on improvement and
development of amenities,” he said.

Hyderabad MP, Mr Asaduddin Owaisi of MIM said the problem
with agencies like the Water Board, GHMC, Central Discom, APTransco,
traffic police, APSRTC city unit, and railways is that the duties of
each have been earmarked clearly but they are not able to discharge
those duties.